INTRODUCTION

ws

ALCHEMY ON STONES AND MINERALS INCHINESE PHARMACOPOEIAS*

Alchemical knowledge among theancient and mediaeval Chinese was notconfined exclusively to the Taoist, andneither was Chinese alchemy restricted tothe pursuit of the elixirs and the transmuta-tion of base metal into gold . Chia Ssu-Hsieh

a describes in his Chhi Min Yao Shu(written between +533 and

+544) many processes used in industrialchemistry, such as the preparation of dyes,ink and essential oils, making of wine andvinegar, and the recovering of salt from brineby crystallisation .) The Ko Wu Trhu Than

and the Wu Lei Hsiang KanChih Oj 0 fH A

' , both ascribed to SuTung-Pho

3K f

of the

11th

century,contain many results of alchemical interest .For example the former mentions that ruston copper vessels removes by itself whenplaced in vinegar, malachite (tsheng chhingV W ) rubbed on iron gives it the red colourof copper, and so on . There were also mono-graphs on wine-making, such as the Pei ShanChiu Ching ~L Llj >/f f~, written by ChuHung $k rA in +1117 and Su Tung-Pho'sTung-Pho Chiu Ching 3K t9i f

. Muchinformation on industrial chemistry can befound in the Thien Kung Khai Wu X _ FA

written by Sung Ying-Hsing * yN RA inthe year 1637 . Besides, the pharmacist andthe physician had also to acquaint themselveswith the alchemical properties and prepara-tions of many products used in medicine .It has already been pointed out that Chinesealchemy was from the very beginning iatro-chemistry, and the Chinese did not have to

Apaper presented atthe Conference on the Historyof Chinese Science, held at Chung Chi College,The Chinese University of Hong Kong, January22-27, 1968. The Conference was financed bythe Harvard-Yenching Institute .The author is Dean of Arts at the University ofMalaya.

Ho PENG YOKE*

155

wait for Paracelsus and John fo Rupescissa(fl. +1325 to +1350) to tell them that thetrue business ofalchemy was not to make goldbut to make medicines.2 Chinese pharmaco-poeias form a rich source of information onthe alchemy of both inorganic and organicsubstances . It is the purpose of this paper tostudy only the alchemy on stones andminerals as contained in Chinese pharma-copoeias .

Throughout its course in history Chinahas produced a vast number of pharmaco-poeias . The catalogue of Lung Po-Chinn

contains 278 titles of Chinesepharmacopoeias still extant, although manyof these texts exist only in fragments . Wealso know of many other texts, like theThong-Chun Tshai Yao Luthe Wu Shih Pen Tshao A )

Tq , theShu Pin Tshao Q * -a , etc. that havealready long become lost .

The tradition of pharmacopoeia writingwas set by the Shen Nung Pin Tshao Chingf* a * A~

, the first of the Pin Tshaoseries and dating back to the Former Hanor the -}-1st century. Several reconstructionsof the text have been made from fragmentarypassages quoted in subsequent Chinesepharmacopoeias, especially those written inthe style of an encyclopaedia, and otherworks. The Shen Nung Pin-Tshao Ching listsone hundred and twenty superior medicalingredients (shang yao ± ffi ) which havethe efficacy of arresting the process ofageing and prolonging the human life span(pu lao yen nien *In SAE 4-E ) . Among theseare eighteen different varieties of mineralsand stones, namely cinnabar (tan sha fJ- jj~, ),mica (yon-mu 'V- a ), jade potion (yii chheian~E A ), stalactites (shih jii chung ;F q, ),potash alum (nieh shih r :p ), potassiumnitrate (hsiao Shih

), crude sodiumnitrate (;6hu hsiao *F

), soapstone (hua Shih), copper sulphate (shih tan ;F

),

156

malachite (khung chhing g W ), stratifiedvariety of malachite (tsheng chhing ),brown hematite (Yii yii liang ,Areddish variety of brown hematite (Thai Iyu hang t Z 0,

), quartz (pai shih ying), amethyst (tzu shih ying

;athe five siliceous clays (wu shih shih chih

(including the blue and thered variety, Fuller's earth, kaolin and gra-phite), light-coloured azurite (pal chhing

), and azurite (pien chhing F, W ) .Furthermore, it mentions the alchemicalaction of certain stones and minerals, forexample it says that sulphur (shih liu huang;a JDIIL~ X ) is `an unusual substance that cantransform gold, silver, copper and iron'(neng hua chin yin thung thieh chhi wit 'M~ ft A,

-7~T #rj ) . Such observations canbe found quoted in many later pharmaco-poeias, some of which have added furtherinformation on the alchemical action, pro-perties and method of preparations of otherstones and minerals . They are regrouped hereaccording to the Periodic Table for ease ofreference .

SOURCES OF REFERENCE

Besides the Shen Nung Pen Tshao Ching,the relevant pharmacopoeias often quotedin this study are as follows :-

Lei Kuna Yao Tui M ~

' , writtenduring the Liu Sung period (+420 to+479) by Lei Hsiao 0-i R .

Pen Tshao Ching Chi Chu * IX ,written by Thao Hung-Ching(ca . +500) .

Ming I Pieh Lit

,

53 11

, with a com-mentary by Thao Hung-Ching (ca .+500) .

Thang Hsin Hsiu Pen Tshao JA V41, otherwise known as Thang PenTshao FA

or Hsin Hsiu Pen TshaoFT 114 *

, compiled by- Su Chingi( et al in the year 659 .

Pen Tshao Shih I * V * 31 , written byChhen Thhang-Chhi M

a in +739.Khai Pao Pen Tshao M

* 9 , compiledby Liu Han ZQ

et al in +973.This text is already lost .

Thu Ching Pin Tshao M

orPen Tshao Thu Ching * ®

,

THE CHUNG CHIJOURNAL

written by Su Sung

A , published in+1062.

Ching Lei Pin Tshao

Tq , com-piled by Thang Shen-Wei JA fX abetween+ 1086 and + 1093, and becameknown under the new titles Ching ShihCheng Lei Ta Kuan Pin Tshao

in +1108 after re-edited by Ai Sheng 3~ a and Cheng HoHsin Hsiu Ching Lei Pi Yung Pin Tshaot A r T(

a ffirm f *9 in +1116after re-edited by Tshao Hsiao-Chung-ft * ,g et al.

Pin Tshao Yen I * 1W Tl7

by KhouTsung-shih TaE 2 )4 in +1116.

Thu Ching Yen I Pen Tshao ® 1,§ r

;by Khou Tsung-Shih in about the

year + 1120 .Chhung Hsiu Ching Ho Ching Shih Cheng

Lei Pi Yung Pen Tshao jR Tg ~A $1a Jjcompiled by

Chang Tsunn-Hui T

;% in 1249 byincorporation some material of thePen Tshao Yen I into the Ching Ho HsinHsiu Ching Lei Pi Yung Pen Tshao.

Pen Tshao Phin Hut Ching Yao * V Q

compiled by Liu Wen-ThaiJ

et al in . 1505 .Pen Tshao Kang Mu * V M

, writtenby Li Shih-Chen 4i &4 3i~ in 1596 .

Pen Tshao Kang Mu Shih I * :W M [I fft;2 , written by Chao Hsiieh-Min ,M 4!

in 1765 .

It is realised that some of the Taoistalchemists, like Thao Hung-Ching and SunSsu-Mo N M a , were all great physiciansat the same time, and that the pharma-copoeias sometimes merely quoted the use ofsubstances for alchemical purposes from theTaoist alchemists, for example from the11th-century work Tan Fang Chien YiianfJ ;~

M,,

of

Tuku

Thao

X M -ra .

However, Chinese pharmacopoeias also con-tain much alchemical material that is notfound in the Taoist alchemical texts availableto us . The Chhung Hsiu Cheng Ho Ching ShihCheng Lei Pi Yung Pin Tshao, for example,quotes from many Taoist alchemical treatises,such as the Chhing Hsia Tzu W 'a -T andthe Ma Ming Hsien Sheng Chin Tan Chueh X, HA

f} Z , that are no longer extant .

TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN ALCHEMICAL

EXPERIMENTS

The Chinese alchemist employed a hostof technical terms to describe his experiments .Unfortunately, unlike those used in astronomy,

an %~

(lit. to place)Chiao

(lit. to water)

chiehchih S1

chiu

(lit. to cauterise)chu

(lit. to boil)chuan

(lit. to turn)chhou

(lit. to draw out)fei A

(lit. to fly)

fu /ck

hua 4thua khai ft Mkou gkuanku chilien

tien

R3

lin ~W

(lit. to soak)

mu yfi y:

(lit. to bathe)ning 4

(lit. to congeal)San

(lit. to disperse)sha

(lit. to kill)

sheng 4

(lit to rise)

ssu X

(lit. to die)

tuan ;~

(lit. to forge)yang

(lit. to nourish)

yen Iff

(lit . to grind)

(lit . to tie up, to form an alliance)(lit . to control)

(lit . to subdue; to fall prostrate)

(lit . to change)(lit . to decompose)(lit . to connect)(lit . to shut)(lit . to stop the flow)(lit . to refine)

probably abbreviated form oftienhua Ti5 ¢~ (lit . to act upon)

157

definition of alchemical terms has yet to befound among alchemical or pharmacenticalworks. Many of these terms have, however,been explained by Yuan Han-Chhing in thelast decade .3 A glossary of the common termsused by Chinese alchemists is given below :

to set up, to place .to pour out a hot liquid andallow it to cool down slowlyto combineto prevent or delay the processof distillation or sublimation ;to produce a change .to apply heat locallyto heat a substance put inwater .cycle of changesto distilsublimation ; distillation ; tovaporizeto extract ; to prevent or delaythe process of distillation orsublimation ; the product .to change; to meltto meltto combineto encloseto seal with a luteto heat a substance withoutwater .to dissolve part of a substancein water and then separatingthe solution from the residue .t o grindto solidify, to harden .to separate.to change a substance so thatit loses its original form orproperties .sublimation, distillation ; tovaporize .to change a substance so thatit loses its original form orproperties .a small quantity of a substancegiving rises to changes in amuch large quantity ofanothersubstance .to heat to a high temperatureto apply heat gently over along periodto grind .

158

GROUP I

SODIUM COMPOUNDS

Methods of recovering common saltby crystallisation are described in detailboth in the pharmacopoeias and in technological books like the Thien Kung Khai Wu.4Commonly known as shih yen Jk , it cameunder many synonyms in the pharmaco-poeias namely shan yen ~h , mu yen t,mo yen

, yin yen FP

, chieh yenhat yen

, pai yen n

, hei yen X,jou yen T_ 59 , chhi yen /~F',

, the yenchhtu yen A 14 , shih yen

6 jig , ma chhi yenit

, chtao yen lr

, chhing yenching yen 4~

, yen chen

tt depending onthe source from which it came, such as thesea, the lake, the wells or the cliff, the colourof the substance, ranging from white togreen, purple, red, yellow and black, and itsform, that is whether it is crystalline or inlumps, and so on . Native salt is called yungyen :R 19 , hu yenM

, chhiang yen ,Achhing yen W

, thu teng yen ,~r<, R

,and yin thu yen P ~.

. Rock salt is knownas kuang ming yen

AA]

, sheng shih M T~ ,shih yen ;U

, and shui ching yen 7KNative lake salt is known as lu hsten Et

,lu yen EN

, han Shih

;e , and shih yenKnown also as man yen T- I ,

native salt is said by the Tan Fang ChienYuan to have the ability of arresting theprocess of sublimation in orpiment andrealgar and that among native salts thevariety hungyen ~] :

is superior . Tuhu Thaosays that native salt can cause eggs to heapup (lei T. ), and can dry up mercury andprevent the process of sublimation in cin-nabar . 5

Sodium sulphate in its crude form isknown as phu hsiao F M , hsiao shih phuM ;F tF yen hsiao

l

, and phi hsiao ),5V, lM .The Shen Nung Pen Tshao Ching says that itcan transform seventy-two types of mineralsand stones . Yuan Han-Chhing takes this tomean either dehydration on exposure to airleaving some anhydrous and some hdyrates,or that under high temperature it candissolve a good number of silicates .s TheMing I Pieh Lu says that the refined productis white as silver and that it remains un-changed in the ground for a thousand years .

THE CHUNG CHIJOUNRAL

Li Shih-Chen explains that the word hsiao M,is included in its name because it dissolvesreadily in water and will also form solutionwith various substances . When purified, whatis found above in the reaction-vessel iscalled mang hsiao

M or phen hsiao ~ft M ormaya hsiao F iF

. The efflorescent powderis calledfeng hua hsiao )R TL M .

Caution isgiven that mang hsiao should not be confusedwith nitre (hsiao shih M ;N ) . In the morepurified form sodium sulphate is known ashsuan ming fen 3~ M t} and pat lung fenn fj~ t . A method for purifying sodiumsulphate as given in the Ming IPieh Lu sayingthat some clean crude sodium sulphate,irrespective of the quantity should be usedduring the winter months of frost and snow .This is mixed with three ounces of Gleditschiasinensis (tsao chia -- X ), heat gently overa fire for a while, pound into pieces and mixwith six cups of hot water.? After removingthe residue left at the bottom, the liquid isfiltered through two layers of thin paperand then poured into an iron pan to beboiled until half of it is left . When cooled toluke warm the liquid is transfered to anearthenware pot and left to cool down byitself in the open for one night . The nextmorning pieces ofsolids will be formed . Theseare dissolved in six cups of clean boilingwater and boil together with eight ouncesof large radish (lo fu

IV ) cut into piecesabout two-tenth of an inch thick until theradish is cooked . The liquid is again trans-ferred to an earthenware pot, and with theradish removed, again left to cool by itselfin the open for one night . The next day piecesof solids will be formed . After removing fromthe liquid and dried the solids are put intogood paper bags and suspended in a placeexposed to the wind. They will naturallyturn into the form of powder . 8

Borax, pheng sha 31 jj: or , U , isstated to be used for soldering gold and silver(ban chin yin yung $e !jk V )JI ) in theShen Nung Pen Tshao Ching. Li Shih-Chen saysthat the white variety from the west has theproperty of softening substances, removingdirt, changing the five metals so that theylose their original forms or properties, havingthe same effects as saltpetre, and combiningwell with arsenious oxide (hsiang to ;M 14 ) .

POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS

Tuhu Thao says that it prevents the processof distillation in mercury (chih �J ) and alsotarnishes copper, while ThuHsiu Chen Chunsays that when heated with arsenious oxide(phi shih Qt ;F ) there will be changes.9

Saltpetre, (hsiao shih M Tj ) is regardedas an elixir substance by the Shin Nung PenTshao Ching. It is also known under thesynonyms mang hsiao :n M , khu hsiao :; lei ,yen hsiao kjA jA , huo hsiao k M , ti shuang1 9 , sheng hsiao 9-: f , and pei ti hsiian chuJL V ]~ A . Mang hsiao is also a name forsodium sulphate, besides being identifiedas epsom salt in 1955 .9- This has given riseto much confusion among both pharmacistsand alchemists over the difference betweensaltpetre and sodium sulphate . Crude salt-petre often contains impurities of sodiumnitrate and sodium chloride . 10 The ShinNung Pin Tshao Ching says that it melts whenheated in the fire . Thao Hung-Ching statesthat when burnt it emits purple-bluishsmoke." The Ming I Pieh Lu says that it iscapable of producing changes in seventy-twokinds of stones and minerals, while ChangTshun-Hui states that it can be transformedinto twelve kinds of stones and minerals .Su Sung says that it turns into a flamecompletely when burnt in fire, that it cantransform metals and stones, and thatalthough it is afraid of fire by itself, it canmake various stones and minerals resist fire .The flame test is recommended for distin-guishing saltpetre from sodium sulphate .According to Sheng Hsiian Tzu's =F- A -Tbook the Fu Hung Thu /j, A LIJ , a piece ofquartz (pai shih ying n Tj r ) that hasbeen heated over a fire will melt intosaltpetre when placed on it . Shih phi ;F W ,according to Read, is a mixture of saltpetreand other salts . 12 Thao Hung-Ching saysthat shih phi can be boiled in water andrendered into hsiao shih, and stones or minerals(shih) thrown inside will be dissolved (hsiao),and hence the term `hsiao shih' . It may bepointed out here that both sodium sulphateand saltpetre were called `hsiao shih' by theChinese, and that `hsiao shih' written by SuSung and Li Shih-Chen means the former . 12a

POTASH ALUM

159

Potash alum is known as fan shih

;a ,or any one of its synonyms nieh shih f ; ,yii nieh Tj l_ , yii tse :3 N , pa shih E, ~ff ,and liu hsii fan 0

.13 Su Kung includesferrous sulphate and ferric sulphate underthe general namefan shih . Another synonymused to denote potash alum was shih tan

which more often refers to coppersulphate . According to Thao Hung-Ching,potash alum dissolved in vinegar when appliedover iron gives it the appearance of copper .,Khou Tsung-Shih says that solution ofpotashalum applied on paper renders it waterproof.

COPPER AND ITS COMPOUNDS

Archaeological evidence shows that theChinese already worked on copper at theearly Shang period . The ore from whichcopper was recovered was malachite . 14Because of its reddish-yellow colour, copperis known as chhih thung ~' f , hung thung

and chhih chin ))~ !L in Chinesepharmacopoeias, and in fragment form asthung to C

, thung mo M * , thungg huathung fin f )~q , and thung sha M] lid : .

Although very much have been written onvarious aspects of copper in China, thepharmacopoeias contain surprisingly littleon the alchemical and chemical properties ofthis metal. Li Shih-Chen mentions thatcopper is made into a golden-coloured brass(huang thung jW

) with zinc carbonate (lukan shih

f

), with (phi shih ltk ;' )it can be made into a silver-coloured bronze(pai thung F~ M ), and mixed with tin (hsi

, )it can be made into bronze (hsiang thung

jnu ) .15 Yuan Han-Chhing states thatpai thung is an alloy of copper and nickel andthat the arsenious oxide mentioned by LiShih-Chen has a content of nickel as oftenfound in the arsenious ores in Yunnanprovince .

The most commonly-known salt ofcopper, copper sulphate, known variouslyby the names shih tan ;F

, pi shih -9 ;6 ,hei shih X ;F , tan fan

, li chih shih'0L $~11 Tj , chun shih 3' ;F thung le M

,and chhi shih * Tj , is described by the ShinNung Pin Tshao as having the ability of

160

changing iron into copper, and forming goldand silver . 16 This probably referred to theprecipitation of copper from copper sulphateon iron surface. Li Shih-Chen says that toidentify copper sulphate from imitationmaterials one can put iron or copper wetwith the solution in the flame; the red colourwill tell the genuine substance . Thao Hung-Ching says that chi shih fan F, ,probably an impure form of CUS04 , 5H 20,when put in vinegar and then applied oniron, will impart the colour of copper . 17

The basic acetate of copper, thung chhingor thung lu MJ

according to thedescription of Li Shih-Chen was made byallowing vinegar to act on copper until thelatter turned green. 18 From another descrip-tion quoted by Li Shih-Chen from ChhenTsang-chhi K

5 that this was the greensubstance deposited on the surface of coppervessels, thung chhing . can also refer to a basiccarbonate, CUCO 3 -Cu(OH) 2 called vedigris,similar in composition to malachite . 19

Malachite, known as lu chhing

,shih lu Zj

, or to lu k

, is said by LiShih-Chen to occur in copper foundries.2 0He thinks that copper will acquire a greencoating with time, and after a long time themetal will change into stone to becomemalachite . The large hollow variety, knownas khung chhing g W , is said by the ShinNung Pin Tshao to have the power to changecopper, iron, lead and tin into `gold' .Regarding khung-chhing as Cu (OH)2'CUCO 3 ,Yuan Han-Chhing interprets this passage asmeaning the formation of yellow-colouredalloys under heat with copper, iron, leadand tin, and hence the term `into gold'.21However, in the mind of the Chinesealchemist transmutation was a possibility,for example it is asserted by Thao Hung-Ching, however, that this transmutation canonly be realised after the substance is firstmade into an elixir . Yuan Han-Chhing alsodraws attention to the interesting connectionwith copper mentioned in the Thang PenTshao saying, `when the chhi of copper isforced out it gives birth, to khung-chhing .'22The stratified variety of malachite, tshingchhing R * , was also regarded by the ShinNung Pin Tshao as having the property ofchanging into gold and copper .23 Again

THE CHUNG CHI JOURNAL

regarding tsheng chhing as azurite Cu(OH) 2 .2CuCO3, Yuan Han-Chhing says that itforms a yellow-coloured alloy under heatwith copper, and hence the term `into gold'.24Li Shih-Chen quotes from Pao Phu Tzusaying that rubbing tshing chhing on ironwould give it a red colour like copper. TuhuThao says that tshing chhing can form analliance with mercury and that it couldprevent cinnabar from subliming (chih $ig ) .The lightcoloured variety of azurite (paichhing n Of ) has already been mentionedearlier as an elixir substance .

Persian zingar or cupric chloride, knownin Chinese pharmacopoeias as yen lu 51 A ,lu yen

A , or shih lu ;'

, originallycame from Sasanian Persia . Su Sung saysthat it was a product of Karasar (Yen-chhi

), and the Ming I Pieh Lu warns againstthe use of the imitation substance madelocally from copper and vinegar as a medi-cine .25 According to the Thang Pin Tshao,common salt, copper and sal ammoniacmixed together and left for a long period inan atmosphere of carbon dioxide will giverise to cupric chloride, CUC1 2 -2H20.2 6

SILVER

Silver (yin M ), the so-called `whitemetal' (pai chin e 4k ) to the Chinese, issaid in the pharmacopoeias to be often foundin mines together with copper . Thao Hung-Ching knows that silver forms an almaganwith mercury.2 7 Su Kung says that silvermixed with large quantity of lead is gradedinferior . Khou Tsung-Shih warns against theuse of imitation silver made from cinnabar,or from lead and mercury, or from copper .The Pao Tsang Lun IN R M lists seventeenkinds of silver, of which four are regardedgenuine and the rest false . In medicine,silver was often used in the form of silverfragments (yin hsiao V N ) . It was thepractise of the alchemist to mix silverfragments with mercury and to grind theamalgam together with saltpetre and saltinto a powder, which was then heated toremove the mercury and washed to removethe excess saltpetre and salt for use as amedicine. Li Shih-Chen pointed out thatthis substance was poisonous and that silver

used for medicinal purposes should not bepreviously treated in this manner .2 8

An almagam of silver, called yin kao* , was also used in Chinese medicine .

According to Su Kung this can be preparedby mixing tin (pal hsi F~ � ) and copperfoils with mercury.29

GOLD

Known under the synonyms huang yaand That Chin t P_ , gold (chin A,-- )

has been regarded by the Chinese as thechief of the metals because of the fact thatit does not form a coating (of oxide) evenburied over a prolonged period and thatit will not lose weight no matter how manytimes it is subjected to the fire . The noblemetal was recovered in China both in theform of nuggets, known as kho khuai chin

JA !& and as gold-dust, called fu chinwhen obtained from river beds and

sha chin jJ, !9_~ when came from the mine .The pharmacopoeias cautioned the use ofimitation gold as substitute for the real metal.Li Shih-Chen also warns against confusingcopper foil with gold leaf. In medicine goldwas generally used in the form of goldfragments (chin hsiao & M ),30

GROUP II

CALCIUM COMPOUNDS

Shih hui Ti N is calcium oxide, oftenwith calcium hydroxide as impurities . Knownvariously in the pharmacopoeias as shih o~-j M. , o hui 9 ~k , hsi hui S 7,~ , tuan shih

;Ei , pai hu ~j A , and kuang hui ~k ,it is said, according to Thao, Hung-Ching,to occur near mountains, and is bluish-whitein colour . Su Sung says that it is oftwo types-one become anhydrous when exposed towind, and the other becomes hot when wateris poured over it and decomposes . Li Shih-Chen says that it is obtained by making akiln, then laying a layer of fire-wood or coaldown below and piling the blue calcinablestone over it . When fire is applied fromunderneath the stones burn and break uplayer by layer . Tuhu Thao says that limeprevents realgar, sulphur and sal ammoniac

from subliming, and that it removes thetint found on lead . 31

MERCURY AND ITS COMPOUNDS

Mercury, one of the most extensivelyused elixir ingredients of the Chinese al-chemist, is known in Chinese pharmacopoeias under the names shui yin 7Jc JR ,hung ~R or ltd , ling i 'M A , and cha nii

~-,32 According to the Shin Nung PenTshao Ching mercury turns back into tan f}when melted in the fire . Yuan Han-Chhinginterprets the product as mercury oxide,saying that mercury on being heated oxidisesand becomes HgO with a red colour . 33 Tancan therefore be regarded here as an abbre-viation for san hsien tan HE ddb )}, hungsheng tan ,t ~H J~J or tiao chin tan rh kr f} ,all of which have been identified as mercuryoxide. Thao Hung-Ching says that whenmercury is heated the powder deposited onthe cover (of a reaction vessel) is calledhung fin ~-,f< V or shui yin hui 7K W P~ ,which Yuan Han-Chhing recently suggeststo be mercury oxide.34 Thao Hung-Chingalso mentions that mercury can be recoveredfrom cinnabar, and that when mixed withgold or silver, mercury will form a paste .He then points out that the resulting amalgamcan be used for plating metals .

In a method described by Su Sung forthe recovery of mercury from cinnabar bydescensory distillation ajar manufactured inYang-chMng M, A is filled with cinnabarmixed with pieces of hard charcoal . Themouth of thejar is to be covered with a pieceof thin iron sheet perforated with small holes .The iron sheet is held in position by tying alength of iron wire round the jar, which isthen inverted and placed on top of anotherjar containing water so that the mouths ofthe two jars fit together . A lute made up ofsalt, mud and pig's hair is applied all overthe upper jar, particularly at the rim wherethe two jars meet . When the lute becomesdry the lower jar is buried in the earth sothat the rim appears about an inch aboveground . A stove is then built surroundingthe upper jar so that fire can be applied allround to heat its content. Four openingsare provided, one on each side ofthe furnace,

162

to permit the supply of air to keep the fireburning . After a double-hour mercury willtrickle down into the lower jar. The abovequotation from the Thu Ching Pen Tshaocomes from Liu Wen-Thai, and it is interest-ing to note that it differs somewhat in detailsfrom the quotation made from the same bookby Chang Tsun-Hui and Li Shih-Chen .In the Chhung Hsiu Ching Ho Ching Shih ChengLei Pi Yung Pin Tshao of Chang Tsun-Huia diagram is given to illustrate the process(Figure 1) . 36 There is no mention of Yang-chheng and nor is it necessary to put thetwo vessels in close contact. Another methodby descensory distillation from the Hu YenTan Yao Mi Chueh M N {1- R/ lk some-what similar to the one just described isalso quoted by Li Shih-Chen . It is interestingto compare these with those mentioned inalchemical texts . 37

Figure 1

A method ofextracting mercury from thema chhih hsien Jg It I plant (Portulacaoieracea) from the Thu Ching Pin Tshao canbe found in Li Shih-Chen's book . Themethodsays that the plant with small leaves shouldbe used . When dried every ten pounds ofthe plant would yield eight to ten ouncesof mercury. The plant is first pounded with

THE CHUNG CHIJOURNAL

a pestle made from the wood of a Sophorajaponica (huai ) tree and then placed ona stand built facing eastwards towards thesun. The plant becomes dry after two orthree days, and will look as if it has been leftfor a long time . After heating it is sealedinside an earthenware jar and buried under-ground . Mercury will be obtained afterforty-nine days .

Khou Tsung-Shih states the propertiesof mercury saying that together with lead itcongeals (ning to ), with sulphur it makes analliance (chieh

), and when groundtogether with the fleshy part of dates itseparates (san 'R ) . There are separatemethods for making calomel (ni fin Ilk

$} )and purified calomel (fin shuang }

)by heating mercury. When ground togetherwith saliva mercury can kill fleas. Withmercury copper becomes lustrous . Whenintroduced into a corpse it will delay decom-position . Gold, silver, copper and iron floaton mercury. With human placenta (tzu hochH

* ) mercury will be subdued(fu

) (i.e . its distillation is delayed orprevented), and with Xanthoxylum piperitum(chhuan chiao JII R ) it will collect together(shou & ) . Mercury can connect (kou '] )with gold . It can bubble (yung chhiianiA % ), and it has to be tightly enclosed ina container (kuei Iff ) in order to kill (ssu ,M )(i .e . to change) its pneuma (chhi) . Li Shih-Chenalso quotes from Chen Chhuan R

sayingthat mercury can subdue (fu) the five metalsturning them into the form of a paste, inother words, forming various almagams .38

Another common elixir ingredient usedin medicine is cinnabar (tan sha ff Tr,~ orknown under its synonyms chu sha * 0 ,yun tan sha &' )~J 0 , ma chhi sha X~ tk J: ,tou sha $. T: , mo sha * lid , thu sha f ff~, ,shih sha ;F ~ , chin chu a ~k , kuang mingsha

HA 16 , ma ya sha % ~f

, eou chungsha

Mf: , Yueh sha ,M fv : , lu su ft

,miao liu sha t`

, 6 0, pai thing sha n A 0: ,chin tso sha

GA fur, , mei pai sha

M fv~ ,

pai chin sha

, chhin shui sha

7.K

: ,yu tso sha :E (~ lid , chhen chin shafu yung sha )Z r, lid , yin chhing sha Pat tAc 0,

chien tshu sha 11,

,

0, tshao mo sha M 1z fti, ,ching mien sha

_fffi Jjt~ , phing mien sha Z~ -Mshen mo sha # Z 0 , chin hsing sha

4e R ft~, and Pa sha P, h~ ) . 39 It is alreadynoted early in Shen Nung Pin Tshao Chingthat cinnabar can be converted into mercury(in the presence of heat). The pharma-copoeias give details regarding the identifica-tion of various types of cinnabar ores, notingtheir lustre, colour, size and general appear-ance . Warning is given by Thao Hung-Chingthat cinnabar should not be confused with amixture consisting of realgar and orpiment .Lei Hsiao'M says that iron in the presenceof cinnabar turns into something lookinglike mud and powder (ju ni ssu fen dip F} ) . He must be referring here to iron

sulphide . Vermilion (yin chu ~k ) can beproduced, according to the Hu Yen Tan YaoPi Chueh M A f}

R, A, by meltingtwo pounds of sulphur in a new pan, thenmixed with one pound ofmercury and stirredtogether . The resulting substance, calledchhing sha * ii: is to be ground to a finepowder and put in a jar, which is thencovered with a stone slab, made airtight witha lute andput over a strong fire . On removingfrom the fire and allowed to cool down ver-milion can be found adhering to the insideof the jar, while cinnabar will gather aroundthe mouth of the jar. Each pound of mercurywill yield 14-8 ounces of vermilion.4o

The sulphide of mercury, ling sha

0or erh chhi sha = Z J: was also popularlyused in Chinese medicine . Several methodsof preparation can be found in the pharma-copoeias . These methods consist essentiallyof taking four parts of mercury and one partof sulphur by weight, the, latter being in apowdered form, heating and stirring themixture in a pan over a gentle fire, and aftercooling sealing the content in a jar, which isthen heated at the bottom, and water-cooledat the top. The sublimate collected from thetop of the jar would then be called ling sha

and the residue chhing chin tan thougffi .4I The former is regarded by

Yuan Han-Chhing as the red crystallineform of the sulphide and the latter theblack-coloured sulphide . He explains thereactions as follows :42

heatedHg + S --> HgS (black-coloured

chhing sha thou)

sublimationHgS

-->

HgS (red crystalline(black)

ling sha)

163

The other common compound of mer-cury known to the Chinese is calomel. Inthe less pure form it is called shui yin fin71C

?} , hung fen 5K t} , chhing fin R ~& ,ni fin fA f,} , chhiao fen 1IA V , etc. 43 LiShih Chen gives two different methods ofpreparing this . One method involves theuse of one part of mercury to two parts ofalum and one part ofcommon salt by weight,another uses ten parts of mercury to sevenparts of green vitriol (tsao ,fan .-

) andfive parts of common salt by weight . In thefirst method it is said that for every ounce ofmercury 0.8 ounce of calomel can be pro-duced. The method consists of grinding thethree ingredients together until they becomeeven before they are placed on an iron plateand covered with an inverted basin. Thebasin and the plate are sealed airtight with alute made of ash from the furnace and saltwater. On being heated from underneathcalomel will sublime and adhere to the topof the basin.44 Yuan Han-Chhing explainsthe process by the following chemicalreactions :45

2Hg + 2FeSO4 --> Hg2SO 4 -{- MO+S02

Hg 2SO 4+ 2NaC1 --> Na2SO4Hg2Cl2 T

It is interesting that the Chinese attributedthe formation of calomel to the use of greenvitriol rather than common salt . Li Shih-Chen quotes from the Hai Kho Lun rsaying,

The alums do not combine (hsiang ho N A1 )with mercury, but why do green vitriol and commonsalt together produce a change (chih $J1 ) in mercurymaking it into calomel? The reason is that mercuryis the spirit of the metals and vitriol is the essence ofiron . The chhi of the two come from the same root,and hence they can be made into calomel. Withoutcommon salt the substance will not be of a whitecolour.

Two methods for the preparation of thepurified form of calomel, known in pharma-copoeias as fen shuang 0 V ,shut yin shuang7k $A

, pat hsiieh 0 -Mr-, , or pat ling shacan be found in the Pen Tshao

164

Kang Mu.46 One method says that oneounce of ordinary calomel is to be put in anearthenware jar and stirred before the mouthof the jar is covered with a lamp-bowl, whichis to face upward . The rim is to be coveredwith a lute ofsalt and mud . A gentle charcoalfire is now applied all over below the jar,while the inside of the lamp bowl is continu-ously wiped with a piece of wet paper . Thefire is then made more intense until it reachesthe neck of the jar . After the jar is allowedto cool purified calomel, which looks likewhite wax, will be formed . The Chinesemethod of allowing water to evaporatecontinuously over one surface of the lamp-bowl, though certainly more laborious, isa more efficient cooling system than keepinga fixed quantity of cold water in the samecontainer . It has been suggested earlierthat in the development of the East Asianstill the cover which gave rise to the still-headcould have been convex to the distillationspace .47 It is interesting here to have thecooling surface in an apparatus used forsublimation convex to the sublimation space .

Another method quoted from the WaiThai Pi Yao y$ W V came from anold recipe from the chhui JP family . Itsays that ten ounces each of mercury andsulphur are to be heated separately on a panuntil after some time the mercury becomeshot and the sulphur melts away when thetwo are to be quickly put into the same panand stirred vigorously. It cautions that ifthe mixing was not done quickly enough thenthe two substances will not come together .After a while the sulphur will turn into ashand no more mercury will be seen . Then tenounces of fine earth taken from the stove(fu lung kan [K 'ft fff ) and one ounce ofpowdered common salt are stirred with theproduct and poured into another pan over alayer of common salt of about a tenth of aninch in thickness . 48 After covering thecontent of the pan with another layer ofcommon salt one tenth of an inch thick, anearthenware basin is inverted over the panand the rim is sealed by a lute of salt, earthand mud, and heated over a fire, first gentleand then increasing its intensity, for adouble-hour . Then the basin is removed andthe sublimate collected by using a brush .

THE CHUNG CHI JOURNAL

The operation has to be repeated anothersix times, each time adding two ounces ofpowdered salt . Liu Yu-Liang Z9 a hassuggested that this method would produceHgC12

rather

than

Hg2C1 2 .49

A

thirdmethod mentioned by Liu Wen-Thai involvesthe use ofsaltpetre (yen hsiao M M ), commonsalt, alum, green vitriol, and mercury, asingredients and using first an iron pan forheating and later a jar for obtaining calomelby the process of sublimation . 5o

GROUP IV

CHALCEDONY

Yii kao ~E

, known also by the namespai yu sui n

~E

, -yii chih T% 1 1, , and yii iin Chinese pharmacopoeias, is said to

be the liquid found in the matrix at the jademines . Chhen Tshang-Chhi says that it canbe made by first softening jade into a muddyform by the use of the grease from a toad(chhen chhu kao

V,

) and dissolving itin vinegar . 51 Yuan Han-Chhing thinks thatChhen Tshang-Chhi must be referring tosome false `jade', which came from some kindof carbonates . 52

LEAD AND ITS COMPOUNDS

The Chinese distinguished several typesof lead ore, one of which, called tshao chiehchhien* 6 JR appears to be galena . According to the Ming I Pieh Lu f,

DI A , asquoted by Liu Wen-Thai, when this oreis broken up and burnt in the fire it gives theodour of sulphur . It is interesting that theChinese mention gold, silver and coppertogether with lead, as compared to ourmodern knowledge that small amounts ofsuch metals and other impurities often occurtogether with lead ore . Yuan Han-Chhinghas pointed out that this is an early record toshow that the Chinese knew that lead orecontains sulphur . 53 Li Shih-Chen quotes fromthe obscure book Thu Hsiu Chen Chiian PinTshao saying : 54

Lead is the ancester of all metals (chhien nai wuchin chih tsu ,* TJ jy !& ;~, jnl ) .55 Hence it is alsocalled the goaler and pursuer (pi han chui hun Shih the

of the metals because of itsability to bring the metals under submission (fu "(K )

and to kill (ssu 3~E ) the eight stones (pa shih jk ;F ),Orpiment (tzhu huang

) being the outcrop (miaoof gold contains the chhi of lead, and hence lead

is the ancestor of gold . Lead is found in silver pitsand so it is the ancestor of this white metal. Copperoccurs together with lead ore in Hsin-chou .(q ~11 ,hence lead is the ancestor of copper . Lead and tinhave the same chhi and so lead is the ancestor of tin.Cinnabar is subdued by lead, but is killed by sulphur.Sulphur has an affinity for lead, but is subdued by salammoniac . Iron has an affinity for the lodestone, butis killed by lead . Realgar has an affinity for lead, but iskilled by the five siliceous clays (wu shih chih _y ;F AR ) .Therefore lead undergoes the most number of trans-formation. It can change first into white lead (hu fen

secondly into red oxide of lead (huang tanff ) ; thirdly into litharge (mi tho seng

1) ;and fourthly into lead acetate (pai shuang E~ ) .

Li Shih-Chen gives a method for recover-ing lead from its ore, which probably refersto galena. The ore is to be roasted in an ironpan (thieh tiao

Ot ) . When melted thecontent is to be poured over a tile and thenthe unmelted residue is removed by filtering .The process has to be repeated several times.The reaction can be explained by theequation

PbS + Fe -- Pb -}- FeS .White lead, known in Chinese pharma-

copoeias by the names hu fen M

+'j , fen hsi

V 0 , chieh fen

)~a , ting .fen 5~k f,} ,chhien hua M

, wa fin 7[ t} , kuang fen)~ 3% , pai fen ~i * , shui fen * )Iq andkung fen f, * , is mentioned in Mo Tzu'sbook and also in Chang Hua's ~R

Po WuChih J* #j ' . Thao Hung-Chang says thatit is made from lead . Several methods ofproducing white lead are mentioned by LiShih-Chen . They generally involved warminglead sheets over a long period of time in thepresence of vinegar vapour . Read and Paksay that the acetic acid of the vinegar merelyacted as an intermediate agent.56 From theYii Tung Lu JP %Z-

of Ho Meng-Chhun.(5J JI ;j~ , Li Shih-Chen quotes anothermethod used by the inhabitants ofSung-yang

for making white lead . The peoplethere would suspend lead sheets for forty-ninedays in a sealed jar containing wine . Whitelead would be formed when the sheets weretaken out. The remains could be heated overa fire to form red oxide of lead and litharge .It is interesting to compare this with the

165

`Dutch process' of making white lead, wherelead acetate is formed at the intermediatestage. The book also points out the occupa-tional disease of these workers saying thatthe vapour emitted in the process was quitepoisonous . 57

A process for making red oxide of lead,variously known as chhien tan * {} , chhienhua 9,,'

hung tan OA f} hung hua Je

,huang tan

f} , tan fin fl- )~} , and chu fen* ~h in the pharmacopoeias, is containedboth in the Ming I Pieh Lu and Tuhu Thao's

$n ?o alchemical treatise Tan Fang ChienYuan .58 The former is quoted by Liu Wen-Thai, and the latter by Li Shih-Chen .According to the Ming I Pieh Lu one poundof lead, one ounce of crude sulphur (TuhuThao says ten ounces), and one ounce ofsaltpetre are required . The lead is firstmelted and vinegar is introduced drop bydrop . When heated to the boil a small pieceof sulphur is put in followed by a little salt-petre . When it boils again some vinegar ispoured in as before and then again followedby sulphur and saltpetre . The process isrepeated until all the sulphur and saltpetreare put in . After roasting the product canbe made into powder, which is red oxide oflead .

Lead acetate, called chhien shuangor chhien pai shuang 9 F~ ;% , can be pre-pared, according to Su Sung by treatingfifteen ounces of lead and one ounce ofmercury together and then making thealmagam into small pieces, which are thenput into a jar of vinegar and sealed for along period . Li Shih-Chen mentions anothermethod without involving the use ofmercury.Here lead is made into the shape of coins sothat a string can be passed through thecentral holes . These pieces are thus suspendedover a basin of vinegar at about three inchesaway . The whole set-up is covered by anearthenware basin and left in a cool place .Lead acetate will deposit on the lead coinsand can be removed by scraping with abrush.59

The Chinese word for litharge, ml thoseng ~' r * or mei to seng j~ A', fff ,came from the Persian mirdasang or murdasang of the same meaning.60 Known alsoby the synonym lu ti

V, it first came to

166

China from Persia, but Su Sung says thatit was also found in the silver and copperfoundries ofKwantung and Fukien provinces .The method of extraction according to SuSung is to mix and melt this silver ore con-taining litharge together with lead . Themolten mixture is poured over a pit contain-ing ash and fire is applied over it so that thelead will fall below and the silver willremain on top of the ash . Litharge is thenrecovered from the bottom of the pit .Litharge was also prepared using a methodfor making white lead as mentioned above . 61

GROUP vAMMONIUM CHLORIDE

Another substance said to be used forsoldering is Sal ammoniac, known in pharma-copoeias under the names nao sha jj~ T6, orU, ti yen jk

, pei thing sha AL a U,chhi sha

thou ku chiang chiin jE~ T, and nung sha

U.62 Also accordingto the Ming I Pieh Lu it can `soften' goldand silver . Su Sung says that it can transformthe five metals and the eight minerals . KhouTsung-Shih says that it can be used to testimitation gold or silver as the substance willdissolve in a pot of Sal ammoniac if it isnot genuine .6 Li Shih-Chen points outthat it can be kept dry by putting in acontainer suspended over a fire, but if it iskept in a moist place it will turn into aliquid .

COMPOUNDS OF ARSENIC

THE CHUNG CHIJOURNAL

A wide-spread arsenic-bearing mineralis arsenopyrite, FeAsS, known to the Chinesepharmacists as yii shih

;Ej . This substanceis also known under the synonyms pat yii shih

Thai Po shih t

, It chih shih$~ t9 ;G , chhing chteh shih

; , ku yang

shih W 2~- ;6 , shih yen ;F

, tse ju

, andshu hstang f,A .64 Of its alchemicalproperties Thao Hung-Ching says that it cansoften the metals, and Su Kung states thatit can resist fire, as after prolonged heatingit will merely break up, but without losingits hardness, i .e . melting . This second pro-perty of arsenopyrite can be employed,continues Su Kung, for identifying it from

white gypsum (lt shih JT Tj ), which willburn into ash . Thao Hung-thing also men-tions that arsenopyrite will prevent waterfrom freezing . The coloured variety of themineral is called the sheng yii shih

4-: VU ,

tshang yii shih

;; , tshang shih

Zj orshu to St ' . A fine flakey type with a yellow-ish white colour is called wu hsueh yii shih

'MI-1 W U. Quoting from Tuhu Thao,Li Shih-Chen says that one part of thissubstance will combine with one hundredparts of mercury by weight .

Arsenious oxide, AS Z03 , known inChinese pharmacopoeias as phi shih it ;F ,

jen yen

and hsin shih J�

, is thesubstance commonly called `arsenic' . 65 Inthe native form it was known as phi huang

and after roasting it was called phi

shuang R M . According to Khou Tsung-Shihthe former could be covered by an invertedvessel and heated from below, when thelatter could be collected from the sublimatewhich would adhere to the inside of the coversuspending downwards like mammalianglands . The Pen Tshao Kang Mu also warnsabout the poisonous vapour given off duringthe process of roasting .

Orpiment, ASZS 3 , is known in Chineseas tzhu huang 1d A . According to the ThuHsiu Chen Chfin's book both the trisulphideand the disulphide of arsenic were Yangminerals - that which had not receivedsufficient chhi was orpiment, and that withsufficient chhi was realgar, the time differencebetween the two was five hundred years .According to Tuhu Thao, orpiment cansoften the five metals, dry up mercury, trans-form sulphur, and prevent calomel fromundergoing sublimation . It is also said thatrealgar will change into iron, and orpimentinto lead . 66

The disulphide, realgar (hstung huang

ht ), according to the Chinese belief ofmineral metamorphosis, will transform intogold after a thousand years . Ko Hung men-tions that it turns into a liquid when treatedwith saltpetre and that it can change copperand silver into gold . It is also known underthe synonyms huang chin shih

!;~-- ;a andshih huang ;F

in Chinese pharmacopoeias .The dark variety of the disulphide is calledhsun huang

.67

GROUP VI

SULPHUR

Sulphur is variously known under thenames shih liu huang 75 3AL 9 , liu huang>

, huang nao sha R ~k lj~, , huang yayang hou M R , and chiang chin

Vin Chinese pharmacopoeias . The Shin NungPin Tshao mentioned its efficacy of beingable 'to change gold, silver, copper and iron .This is interpreted by Yuan Han-Chhing asthe formation of sulphides with metals .s$Li Shih-Chen notes that saltpetre (hsiaoshih M 7E ) can change sulphur into a liquid,and that sulphur contained in a bambootube and kept in a horse-dung bed for amonth will also turn into a liquid . Thisprobably refers to the formation of carbondisulphide . Tuhu Thao says that sulphurcan dry up mercury, that it turns blackwhen coming into contact with the fivemetals (gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead),but with mercury its colour becomes red.s9

GROUP VIIIRON AND ITS COMPOUNDS

The Chinese used iron, thieh Z (syno-nyms hei chin M !~! and wu chin Q, !j~! - bothmeaning `black metal') in the forms ofwrought iron (shu thieh 36 0 or hsu thieh

), cast iron (shing thieh t $2 ) andsteel (kang thieh M, a, ) . 7o Lei Hsiao -M- - TTA

says that when iron meets cinnabar (shen shafi* - ) it will look like earth and powder .We find very little in the pharmacopoeiasconcerning the alchemy of iron except apassage on the metamorphosis of the mineralquoted from the Thu Hsiu Pin Tshao byLi Shih-Chen, which reads :

Iron receives the chhi of the Greater Yang . At thebeginning of its formation, rock-salt (lu shih A. 73 )was produced . After one hundred and fifty years itbecame magnetite (tzhu shih g ;F ), which after agestation period of two hundred years became iron .If it is not taken out ofthe mine and worked on, it willbecome copperafteranother twohundred years. Copperwill transform into silver, and silver into gold . Henceiron came from the same root as gold and silver . Thiscan be verified by breaking magnetite and findingiron pieces inside it. . . .

Li Shih-Chen also quotes a sentence fromthe Kuan Tzu book saying that where there

is haematite (chi

) above, iron will befound below. This aspect of mineral pro-specting by the empirical association of onerock or mineral with another is discussed ingreater length by Joseph Needham.7 t

Su Sung says that black oxide of iron(thieh to , also called thieh i 0, )comes from the pieces falling out during theforging and beating of iron . Li Shih-Chenobserves that if one writes on a piece ofpaper with black oxide of iron and vinegarand then smears ink over the back of thepaper, one will get the same effect as writingscarved on a stone tablet . He also mentionsthat acetate of iron (thieh hua fin a -M~& ) isobtained by sprinkling salt water over thepolished surface of pieces of iron plates andthen suspending the plates over vinegar fora period of one hundred days.72

Thieh thingidentified by Read and Pak as either

oxide of iron or an iron acetate, has theproperty of being able to change copper(neng hua thing A~ ft A ) according to theearliest Chinese pharmacopoeia Shin NungPitt Tshao.

The hydrate of ferrous sulphate, FeS04 .7H20, commonly called green vitriol orcopperas, is known in Chinese pharma-copoeias as In fan

, tsao fanand chhingfan y

. According to Su Sung,when the substance was placed on an ironplate and heated over a charcoal fire, whichis assisted by blowing with a bellow, a red-coloured liquid would flow out, and aftergiving out all its liquid the substance wouldlook like red oxide of lead (huang tan X )~} ).Su Ching

* said that this test could beused for distinguishing between green vitrioland copper sulphate . This red substance isknown as chiang ,fan

or fan hung

Uin Chinese pharmacopoeias . Yuan Han-Chhing explains that this method of testingconsists essentially of finding out whether thesubstance will decompose, on applicationof heat, to Fe20 3 .7 3 Li Shih-Chen mentionedthe use of green vitriol for making dyes .74

A method for the preparation of thesulphide of iron, tzu thing tan rg {j isgiven in the eleventh century medical treatiseShing Hui Fang M 79 :!T . Two ounces offinely powdered sulphur and four ounces offine powdered iron (then sha * 0 ) are to

167

168

be ground together until even and two pintsof boiling water is poured over it . The wateris removed when it has cooled down and theingredients are then sealed airtight in a potand warmed over a long period with a gentlefire before the fire is intensified until the jarbecame red hot . After cooling the content isground to a fine powder . The powder iscollected after washing with hot water, butwhat remains sticking to the bottom isdiscarded . The operation is repeated tentimes and any iron that remains is removedby filtration . The product is then placed onlayers of paper and dried by putting oversome ash.

CONCLUSIONS

While the Taoist alchemist's primaryobjective was the realisation of the drug ofimmortality, rather similar to the elixir vitae

of the West with the efficacies of transmuta-tion, healing and prolonging life, the Chinesepharmacist studied the alchemical propertiesof many natural substances to make itpossible to produce certain medicinal pro-ducts . Liebig (1803 - 1873) asserted thatalchemy was never anything different fromchemistry. This cannot be more true in thecase ofChinese alchemy ofstones and mineralsas practised by the pharmacist . Some of thesubstances used all along by the Chinesephysician, like copper vitriol, corrosive sub-limate (mercury chloride), sugar of lead(lead acetate), and arsenic compounds wereamong the drugs later used for the first timein Europe by Paracelsus .

Alchemy in the West was interwovenwith mysticism, mythology, astrology, magicand religion . Alchemical writings in theWest were characterised by their vaguenessand their frequent use of crypticism andsymbolism . The same is often true withTaoist alchemical texts. However, the phar-macopoeias usually give such lucid and

1 .

The romanisation of Chinese proper names andtechnical terms follows the Wade-Giles system,except that the aspirate apostrophe is subsitutedby an h.

THE CHUNG CHI JOURNAL

NOTES

precise descriptions of alchemical experimentthat they sound quite familiar to the modernchemist. A Chinese method of preparingwhite lead, for example, almost reads likethe `Dutch process' for the industrial pro-duction of the carbonate .

One can find many parallels in Chineseand Western alchemy. Mercury and sulphurwere common ingredients in Westernalchemy, and so were they in China. Egyptiancraftmen used to make imitation gold by theuse of copper salts . In the West transmutationwas sometimes called `tingeing' - Maretingerem, si mercurius esset! Chinese pharma-copoeias make many references to imitationgold, from the use of copper sulphate for theprecipitation of copper to the application ofalmagams to produce such forgeries . Inwestern alchemy terms like `petrefaction'or `mortification' were applied to the `death'of a metal usually through oxidation. TheChinese alchemist spoke in terms of ssu ,N(death) and sha 3R (kill) . The central andcrucial feature of the preparation of thePhilosopher's Stone consisted of heating theingredients concerned over a prolonged periodand under the right condition in the sealedvessel of Hermes . We find similarity in theheating of the sealed reaction-vessel over daysand months in Chinese alchemy.

The present study is restricted only tothe study of inorganic substances in theChinese pharmacopoeias . As organic substances are employed in far larger numberthan stones and minerals in Chinese medicine,Chinese pharmacopoeias are bound to con-tain information on the alchemy ofthe former.This should make a fascinating future study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author wishes to thank Dr . FrancisMorsingh of the Department of Chemistry,University of Malaya, for giving him thebenefit of his chemical expertise .

2 . See Ho Ping-Yii & Joseph Needham, "ElixirPoisoning in Mediaeval China", Janus, 1959,48, 221-251, esp. p. 246.

3. See Yuan Han-Chhing, Chung Kuo Hua Hsiieh

169

Shih Lun Wen Chi, Peking, 1956, p . 207 to p . 209 . gives 21 synonyms for mercury, and the list4 . See for example E-tu Zen Sun and Shiou-Chuan

given is by no means exhaustive.

Sun, Chinese Technology in the Seventh Century by 33 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 242 .Sung Ying-Hsing p . 108 to p . 123 . 34. See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 243 .See Pen Tshao Kong Mu, p. 689 .

35 . See Pen Tshao Plain Hui Ching Yao, p. 155 .6. See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 242 .

36 . See Chhung Hsiu Cheng Ho Ching Shih Cheng Lei7 . Read No. 387 . The plant tsao chia contains saponin Pi Yung Pen Tshao p. 107 .

C59HI00020 and Arabinose .37 . See Ho Ping-YO and Joseph Needham, "The

8 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 692 to p . 695 . Laboratory Equipment of the Early Mediaeval9 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 702 . Chinese Alchemists" Ambix, 1959, I, 57-115,

esp . p . 88-p . 91 .9a . The author owes this to Miyashita Saburo . 38 . Unless otherwise stated, all the quotations above10 . Read & Pak No . 125 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, come from Pen Tshao Kang Mu p. 628 to p . 631 .

p . 696 to p . 699 . 39 . Read & Pak No . 43 . See Pen Tshao Phin Hui1 I . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 242 & p. 243 . Ching Yao p. 107 .

12 . Read & Pak No . 135a . 40 . See Pen Tshao Kong Mu, p. 625 to p . 628 .

12a . This has been pointed out to the author by 41 . Read & Pak No . 48 . See Pen Tshao Kang MuMiyashita Saburo . p . 634 and p . 635 and Pen Tshao Phin Hui Ching

Yao p. 156 .13 . See Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 706 to p . 710 .42 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 250 .14 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 56 .43 . Read & Pak No . 45 .

15. Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 596 & 597 .44 . See Pen Tshao Kang Mu p. 631 to p . 633 .16 . Read & Pak No . 87, Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 670 &

p . 671 . 45 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 250.17 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 243 . 46 . Read & Pak No . 46 . See Pen Tshao Kang Mu

18 . Read & Pak No. 9 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 598 &p . 633 .

p . 599 . 47 . The development of the East Asian still is19 . See Liu Yu-Liang, p . 45 . described in Ho Ping-Yii & Joseph Needham,

"The Laboratory Equipment of the Early20 . Read & Pak No . 82, Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 668 Mediaeval Chinese Alchemists," Ambix, 1959,

and p . 669 . 7, 57-115, esp . p . 94 to p . 108 .

21 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 241 . 48 . contains H2SiO3, A1203, Fe203 and CaC03according to Liu Yu-Liang, p . 74 .

22 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 244.49 . See Liu Yu-Liang, p . 14 .

23 . Real & Pak No . 83 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu. p. 668 .50 . Pen Tshao Phin Hui Ching Yao p. 214 and p . 215 .24 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 241 .51 . Read & Pak No . 30 . Pen Tshao Phin Hui Ching

25 . Laufer, p . 510 . Yao, p. 136 .26 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 244. 52 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 245 .27 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 243 . 53 . See Yuan Han-Chhing, p . 248 .28 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 594 to p . 596 . 54 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 599 and p . 600 .29 . Pen Tshao Kong Mu, p. 596 . 55 . See also Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3,30 . Pen Tshao Kong Mu, p. 593 to p. 594 .

p . 639 .

31 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 656 .56 . See Read & Pak, p . 9 .

32 . Read & Pak No. 44 . The number of synonyms57 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 601 .

used in Chinese pharmacopoeias for mercury is 58 . Read & Pak No . 13 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu p. 603far less than that used by the Taoist alchemist . & p. 604 . and Pen Tshao Phin Hui Ching YaoThe Shih Yao Erh Ya 7e X qft for example, p . 183 .

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170 THE CHUNG CHIJOURNAL

59 . See Read & Pak No . 11 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu 67 . Read & Pak No . 49 & 49a. Pen Tshao Kang Mu,p. 600 & p. 601 . p. 638.

60 . See Laufer, Berthold, Sino-Iranica, Chicago, 68 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p. 242.1919, reprinted Taipei, 1967, p. 508. 69 . Read & Pak No. 128, Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 702

61 . Read & Pak No . 14 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 604 and p. 703.& p. 605. 70 . Read & Pak No . 20 .

62 . Read & Pak No . 126 .71 . See Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, P.

63 . Pen Tshao Yen I, p. 39 . 674.

64 . Read & Pak No. 88 . Pen Tshao Kong Mu, p. 671 . 72 . See Pen Tshao Phin Hui Ching Yao, p. 168.

65 . Read & Pak No . 91 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 673. 73 . Yuan Han-Chhing, p. 248.

66. Read & Pak No . 50, Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 638. 74 . Pen Tshao Kang Mu, p. 710.